At long last a LiveJournal by Jeri Smith-Ready

The month-long, mega-YA-author giveaway at my blog is almost at an end. But there are still six open drawings, plus five more to come, including Jennifer Echols (tomorrow), PC Cast (Thursday), me (Friday) and Rachel Vincent on Saturday.

And then--AND THEN, the grand prize, featuring over $300 worth of YA novels (i.e., the books the authors are giving away).

Yesterday's guest was Stephanie Kuehnert, the amazing author of gritty YA novels such as I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone and this year's Ballads of Suburbia, which she's giving away this week. Her blog post on what Halloween and Homecoming mean to her and her main character is touching and truthful.

Today's guest is Carrie Jones, author of the wonderful pixie novel Need. She's giving away an ARC of Need's sequel, Captivate.

For a full schedule and details, including entry rules, read the introductory post. Please stop by to say hi to these wonderful authors!

Today's Blogtoberguest is New York Times-bestselling author Nancy Holder, who is giving away five (5!) signed books, including her creepy new YA novel, Possessions.  Come join the party (but not late at night when you're alone, because even her post is spooky).

One of my favorite authors and persons, Norton Award-nominee Sarah Beth Durst, is blogging about the meaning of home and giving away a signed copy of her brand-new (as in TODAY) release of Ice, today at the Blogtoberfest.

Hey, that was a one sentence post. Until now.

Novelist and screenwriter Saundra Mitchell wrote a wonderful little extra from the world of her debut YA paranormal novel, Shadowed Summer, a signed copy of which she's giving away at my blog right now. Come join the party!

I think LJ was down last Tuesday when I posted this on my regular blog, so here it is!

I'm way overdue on updating you on our current foster cat, Twinkle. I assure you, it's not because we want to hide her from the world so that no one ever adopts her. Really.

We've had her since mid-August, nursed her through a case of Coccidia (don't ask) as well as a spay operation, the recovery to which went more slowly than usual because she wouldn't take it easy afterward and ended up with some swelling around her sutures. You try to keep a nine-month-old kitten "quiet and still."

What's she like, you ask? She's a terrible, horrible, naughty kitten. She chews on boxes, and she--um, well, uh....

Okay, she's pretty much perfect. She gets along well with Misha and Meadow, she's cuddly, playful, well-behaved at the vet's and when getting medicine at home. She's so cute, it almost makes my head explode.


(Click for larger version--hold onto your head.)

But that box-chewing thing. You don't want her. She should just stay with us indefinitely, for the next sixteen or seventeen years.

Instead, let me direct your attention to her four lovely kittens. Poor Twinkle got knocked up during her first heat when she was only six months old. She showed up at the Howard County (MD) animal shelter ready to pop. They immediately sent her to the vet to be spayed and the kittens aborted, since their shelter was already chock full o' kittens.

The morning of the surgery, the vet walked in to discover that she'd given birth during the night. (Twinkle, not the vet.) So these kittens were Meant to Be.

( Click for photos and more info. But beware of the cute. )

If you live in Maryland, Northern Virginia, DC, Delaware, or south central Pennsylvania and are looking for a kitten (or two--they're better in pairs), or know someone who is, please consider one of these babies. (Click on their links for more info on adopting from Tails of Hope.) It would make me so happy to see Twinkle's kids go to good homes.

Note: This is not an "OMG SAVE THE KITTENS!" plea. They will stay in foster care until they're adopted. But they'll be four among a mess of kittens (there were 15 when I was there), and I would love to see them go to a Forever Home where they can have their very own people.

Just like their mom. Little box-chewing, heart-stealing minx.

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Now playing: The Blues Brothers - Peter Gunn Theme

Today's guest at my Halloween & Homecoming blog party is Shannon Reinbold-Gee, who won the 2008 Textnovel contest with her werewolf tale, 13 TO LIFE, which was later snatched up by St. Martin's Press in a three-book deal!  She's giving away an ARC, so come read a "behind-the-scenes" scene from her novel and make this debut author feel welcome.

Rita-award winning author Rosemary Clement-Moore is giving away a copy of her brand-new paranormal YA novel, The Splendor Falls. She discusses her favorite (sort of) Halloween costume and how she was once mistaken for a "nerd." Come party with us!

(I am somewhere in this Homecoming photo from Loudoun County High School. Click the picture for a larger version. First person to find me gets to make fun of my eighties' hair.)

To celebrate my five-year blog anniversary and the not-so-far-off-anymore release of Shade, I'm hosting a month-long, mega-bonanza-giveaway blog party for fans of YA fiction.

Every weekday (and maybe a weekend or two), a fabulous author will blog about Halloween or Homecoming, and also give away a signed book or ARC to one lucky commenter.

Then at the end of the month....

The grand prize....

A package of every single book in the contest, delivered to the winner's door, courtesy of moi. That's over $250 worth of reading bliss.

The Schedule:

October 1: Rosemary Clement-Moore
October 2: June 2010 debut author Shannon Reinbold-Gee
October 5: Saundra Mitchell
October 6: Sarah Beth Durst
October 7: Megan Crewe
October 8: Nancy Holder
October 9: Kelly Parra
October 12: Amanda Ashby
October 13: Shana Norris
October 14: Linda Joy Singleton
October 15: Linda Gerber
October 16: December 2009 debut author Alexandra Diaz
October 19: Melissa Walker
October 20: Sydney Salter
October 21: Christine Marciniak
October 22: Tricia Mills
October 23: Simone Elkeles
October 26: Stephanie Kuehnert
October 27: Carrie Jones
October 28: Jennifer Echols
October 29: PC Cast
October 30: Me

Schedule is subject to change.

The Rules:

1. Contest open to U.S. residents only. This isn't because we're cheap and don't want to pay international postage--some of us are international ourselves. It's because I'm trying to keep this contest legal and can only keep track of one country's laws at a time. Sorry!

2. To enter the daily contests, simply comment on that day's post. After a week, a winner will be drawn using a random number generator. All daily contest commenters will be automatically entered in the grand prize drawing.

3. Retail value of grand prize: $261.68. Retail value will increase (and be updated here) if more authors join the party. Retail values of individual prizes will be listed on each post.

4. Odds of winning depend upon the number of participants.

5. Names of winners will be posted in the comments of that day's post, and in the post that appears the day after the drawing. Winners have one week to claim their prize by contacting me via e-mail at jeri AT jerismithready DOT com. If the winner does not contact me by that time, I will draw another name at random.

Great news for Kindle lovers: Wicked Game and Bad to the Bone are finally available for your cherished device!

Other electronic formats should be available shortly, and of course I'll let you know when that happens. Or you can let me know, if you see it first.

The third book in the WVMP Radio series, Bring on the Night, will be released on August 1, 2010. I know, it's a long time after Bad to the Bone, but the good news is that the fourth book, tentatively titled Lust for Life, will be released six months later, in Spring 2011. So your patience will be rewarded! They'll also all be in mass market paperback (and so will Bad to the Bone as of February 23, 2010), so your wallet will thank you, too.

The change in schedule is due to the release of my first young adult novel, Shade, on May 18, 2010. My publisher wants to space out the releases so they don't compete with each other and so I don't, you know, go insane.

Quick post between vet visits (nothing serious, just routine checkups):

For the few people who are actually on the internet this close to the holiday weekend, your diligence is rewarded! I have two interviews up with two different signed books being given away.

Furthermore, I did not repeat myself ONCE between the two interviews. Although I may have used the word "and" in both.

Jocelynn Drake's giveaway of Wicked Game continues through tomorrow, and is now joined by a short interview about the WVMP series. Then Brooke Reviews has a longer interview where I discuss entirely different things, and where I'm giving away a signed copy of Bad to the Bone.

Yes, I forgot this was Labor Day weekend. I'm an idiot. But hey, those of you who actually check it out will have an even better chance than usual to win, because you won't have to compete with people who are out having fun.

Not that reading an interview with me isn't fun.

Anyway, have a great weekend, holiday or not!

Actually, you don't have to do one to do the other. That's why this is a great country.

Jocelynn Drake's fabulous ongoing book giveaway contest continues this week with Wicked Game. The contest runs through Saturday, then Sunday she'll announce the winner post an interview with me. All you have to do is comment at her contest post to enter.

Got that? OK, now you may see the kitten (click for larger, cuter version):

This blog post started off as a brief hey-this-is-what's-new-with me post, and turned into a whole essay on the the different kinds of edits. This is why I have trouble finding time to blog--you cannot shut me up.

I turned in my rewrite of Shade on Monday. On Friday, my editor will give me her line edits, and the final version will go to the copyeditor on September 9.

What are line edits, you ask? (Let's pretend you asked, so that I don't look pretentious.) There are usually two stages to an editor's actual editorial work on a book. The first one is called...hmm, I don't know what it's called. Let's call it the Global Edit, because that sounds very impressive and sort of humanitarian. The Global Edit^TM tackles the Big Issues, such as:

-- Character X feels underdeveloped and pointless to the story; maybe s/he can be combined with another character to serve the same purpose? I mean, does the protagonist really need TWO drama-riddled, arachnophobic, Vespa-riding best friends? Hmm?
-- Subplot Y fails to be resolved. We never do find out who made those crop circles in the shape of Dick Cheney's head.
-- The pacing of Chapters 5-9 was so slow, I sold them to a pharmaceutical company as a powerful anesthesia agent (patent pending).

So the writer gets the Global Edit and spends at least a few weeks (God willing) doing a rewrite. For all of my books from Voice of Crow through Bad to the Bone, this stage involved giant overhauls to the plot and characters and took about two months each.

For Shade, this major rewrite wasn't necessary, and here's why: A month before it was due, I gave the oh-so-rough draft to a pair of beta readers who should be awarded medals of valor. It gave me the chance to see the big-picture problems with it, which I fixed to the best of my ability before turning it in to my editor at Simon Pulse (Annette Pollert) on June 1.

Anyway, then the writer submits the rewritten version to her editor (which I did this Monday). Sometimes the editor sends back this version with "line edits." At this stage, the editor flags specific details in the writing--clunky dialogue, weak descriptions, or other Things-That-Make-Her-Go-Eww. Usually he or she won't correct things like grammar or spelling--that's the copyeditor's job.

So if the Global Edit is the forest, the Line Edit is the trees. Books are made of trees, which come from forests, so...there.

Keep in mind that not every editor works this way. Some will combine the global edit (you're used to the term now, so we're switching to lower case) with the line edit. My editor at Pocket, Jen Heddle, does this. The lovely part is that I can then ignore half of her line edits because they apply to scenes that I've axed. Efficient (for me, at least)! She also does a second line edit on the new version, but it's combined with the copyeditor's review. So that manuscript will have notes for me in two different handwritings and colors. Pretty!

As for copyediting, we'll leave that for another post. I hope this has been an enlightening glimpse inside my little corner of the publishing process. As you can see, building the perfect book has many steps, several of which involve colored pencils.

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Now playing: The Distillers - Coral Fang

Last week I was thrilled to receive an invitation to join phenomenal authors Melissa Marr, Kelley Armstrong, and Alyson Noel on part of their Smart Chicks Kick It Tour in September 2010. After I stopped cartwheeling, I said yes.

What makes Smart Chicks different from other multi-author tours? Well, for starters, it's run by the authors, not by a publisher or publicist (not that there's anything wrong with those--I'll take one, pretty please, any time *winsome smile*). That's why we can announce it now, before all the details are set in stone.

Not only that, but readers get a chance to have a say in what they want from a tour. Readings? Signings? Q&A? Photo ops? Swimming with authors dressed as dolphins? We're even taking suggestions on where we stop. So if you live in a small city that has yet to receive an author visit--or, say, a second Dairy Queen--come ask us to stop by!

All the information and discussion forums can be found at SmartChicksKickIt.com. You can read even more about it at Melissa Marr's blog.

As you can probably see from the current roster, all of us write young adult paranormal, though many also write an adult series or two.

Aaaaaand, speaking of which, my revisions to Shade are due on Monday, so I better get back to that! But I shall leave you with a cute pic of our new foster kitty, Twinkle, who got spayed yesterday, so no more mommy duty for her!

Sorry, not at the same time.

But today and tomorrow you can comment at the blog of phenomenal NY Times bestselling urban fantasy author Jocelynn Drake to win a signed copy of Bad to the Bone. Go forth!

Next Saturday I'll be at the Waldenbooks at the Lebanon Valley Mall in Lebanon, Pennsylvania. Not just me, and not just signing (not that there's anything wrong with just me just signing): from 10-11am, I'll be on a discussion panel on How to Get Published with fellow authors Megan Hart, Mindy Klasky, Savannah Russe, and Maria V. Snyder.

Then from 11am to 4pm I'll be signing, along with the above four authors and many others who write for all ages in all genres (quick note: if you want to see Megan, come before noon).

EDITED TO ADD: Twenty percent of all the day's proceeds go to benefit the Lebanon Library.  How cool is that?

Hope to see you there!

I'm back! Bring on the Night is finished and turned in. Forks sticking out of it and everything. I am very happy with how it's turned out so far (realizing, of course, that I am in for the usual massive rewrite). For the second book in a row, I came up with an ending that changed almost everything I thought was true about its sequel. All part of the adventure, right?

Anyway, appearing today at Stephanie Kuehnert's blog, "Life, Words, & Rock 'n' Roll," is the hero of my WVMP Radio urban fantasy series, vampire DJ Shane McAllister (why I feel like I need to keep introducing him to you is beyond me. But you might be new, so hi!).

Shane is sharing his "ballad," a story of a pivotal point in his life and the music that formed the background, or, in his case, the foreground. It's all part of Stephanie's cyber-launch party celebrating the release of her amazing new novel, Ballads of Suburbia (which I talked about a few weeks ago).

Shane discusses how seeing Purple Rain changed his life, and not in the way he planned.  If you leave a comment at Stephanie's blog, you can be entered to win a choice of Wicked Game, Bad to the Bone (signed, of course), or $20 worth of WVMP merchandise (new stuff added recently, including dog T-shirts and "Feed the Need" baby bibs).

Only three weeks until my next deadline (revisions for Shade), and loads of e-mail, etc., to catch up on before I go all hermit again. We should be getting our first foster cat either this week or next, so I'll have fun stories about her. In the meantime, go visit Twinkle's page and say, "Aww!"

I think as of this morning, I'm finally caught up on sleep!  Yay!  I need the brain clarity, since Bring on the Night is due in a week (technically next Saturday), and I have a lot of plot work to do.  Little things, like what the hell does the villain want? 

Also, for the first time I am finding it a major inconvenience that the vampires can't go out during the day. The timeline for Bring on the Night is so tight, and events happen so quickly, it's hard to wait for sunset to get stuff done.  But I'll work it out eventually; somehow I always do. (Of course, with every book comes the fear that this time the plot will kick my ass instead of the other way around.)

Anyway, today two blogs are interviewing me (luckily with mostly different questions), and each of them are giving away a signed copy of any of my books.  Winner gets to choose from my vast library of published work. (OK, maybe not that vast.)

At the first one, Smexy Books asks you to answer the question, "Kick Ass Chick or TSTL?"  Since TSTL stands for Too Stupid to Live, it seems kinda like a "Cake or Death?" question to me.  But whatever.  Just go leave a comment to enter.

Then over at Star-Crossed Romance, you can find out Ciara's all-time favorite song (it might surprise you) and a little bit more about my YA series.  Leave a comment to enter to win any of my books, signed and personalized by me!

I might drop in next week if I have any major news (well, I have major news, but I'm sort of saving it for an awards round-up post next month), but otherwise I'll be trying to finish Bring on the Night.  Wish me luck and much caffeine!

Every few years, or maybe once a decade, I read a book that humbles and crumbles me, a book that cores my psyche with the jagged edge of a diamond drill. A book that reminds me why we write.

Ballads of Suburbia by Stephanie Kuehnert is one of those books. If you read my blog, you know that Stephanie and I are friends, and we have the same editor, Jennifer Heddle. But I have a lot of writer friends, and while most of them thrill and entertain me with their stories, and I will happily plug their books on my blog when I get special enjoyment from them, this is a whole other realm of awe.

( Oh come on, with an intro like that, how can you not click? )

I (or possibly Shane) will be appearing on Stephanie's blog some time in the next month, and Stephanie will come 'round here on the same day for an interview, at which point I'll tell you more about this fantastic book. But you should definitely stop by her blog each day to check out all the great authors, artists and musicians. And win stuff!

Today Stephanie told her own ballad of how she came to write this incredible book. Oh, and you can also see her very first "vlog," her ballad of a birthday tattoo, along with a live reading from her book. She is incredibly sweet and real, as a writer and a person, so go check them out!

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P.S.: I'm uploading photos from ALA and RWA one by one to my Twitpic page, and after I turn in my book next Friday I'll do a little montage here on the blog. Stories, I got stories!

At ALA now (actually, I'm writing this before I leave, but let's pretend). When I return home more than a week from now, I have ten days to finish the third WVMP book, which is now officially titled....


after the song by The Police.



I am very jazzed that they let me keep my original choice for the title, as it fits the storyline even better than the titles of my other books.

Bring on the Night still has no official release date. I only know for sure that it will be 2010 and definitely not May, because that's when my teen fiction debut, Shade, will be released. Since publishers like to space an author's books at least a couple of months apart, I expect BotN to come out somewhere between July and September of next year.

I know, it's cruel to make readers wait more than a year between installments, but the good news is, your patience will be rewarded, because Book 4 (tentatively titled Lust for Life) will be released in Spring 2011 (I'm guessing February or March), thus giving you two WVMP books in about six months. Happy times!

This ramped-up publishing schedule means my writing schedule has also gotten busier, but I promise I won't forget my loyal blog readers (both of you). I have a fun event planned for this September to celebrate my five-year blog-iversary.

Stay tuned!

Have a great weekend!

I'm leaving tomorrow for ten days, for two conferences.  Even though I'm in total stress mode, I am incredibly excited about these events! 

The first one is in Chicago, and I'll get to hang out with one of my favorite writer friends, the brilliant and way cool Stephanie Kuehnert, who has a new amazing book coming out in a couple of weeks (I read an ARC last month--yes, I am a lucky dog). You'll be hearing more about her next week (the book, not her personally, unless she has something she wants me to share).

Then Sunday I fly back to DC for three days of behind-the-scenes tours of the FBI, State Department, Postal Inspectors, and CIA, with my mystery/suspense chapter of RWA, Kiss of Death.  Oh, and then the other conference, most of which I will probably sleep through after that long week of excitement.

I will try my best to blog at least once a week (I have a couple posts loaded up in the queue), but if you want updates from the conferences, you'd be better off checking my Twitter page.

ALA (American Library Association National conference) schedule:

Sunday, July 12, 8:30am-10am, YALSA's Young Adult Coffee Klatch

Sunday, July 12, 1-2pm, signing/book giveaway at Simon & Schuster Booth #3326.

Both events are open to conference attendees only.

RWA (Romance Writers of America National conference)  schedule:

Wednesday, July 15, 5:30-7, Readers for Life Literacy Autographing (OPEN TO THE PUBLIC--ALL PROCEEDS GO TO CHARITY)

Friday, July 17, 9:45am-11:15am, Pocket Books Signing (OPEN TO CONFERENCE ATTENDEES ONLY).

ETA:

Also Thursday from 7-8 I'll be at the FF&P Gathering, picking up a PRISM award (first, second, or, most likely, third place) for Wicked Game in the Light Paranormal category. Then I'll be hopping off to the Pocket Books party. And Friday night, of course, will find me slamming the dance floor at the Harlequin party.  Other than that, I'll probably be catching up on sleep or work.

Oh, who am I kidding?  I'll be in the bar.

 

See you there!

Just got this message from the foster coordinator for Tails of Hope, the animal rescue organization we volunteer with:

We have a number of dogs in rescue right now and will NOT be taking in any more until some of these are moved. Please talk to people that are considering adopting, friends, neighbors and relatives. Please help these kids, because until they are in homes, we cannot save any others:

Ryan...nothing wrong with him except he needs to play... a family dog with kids is perfect – he’s good family dog and needs training.

( More, including pictures. Can you handle the cute? Can you? )

So if you live in Maryland, DC, south central PA, Delaware, northern VA, or West Virginia, and are looking to adopt or foster a dog, please consider one of these pups. For more information on the application process, visit Tails of Hope's adoption page.

Tails of Hope currently has 26 cats and 53 dogs for adoption. They are also always looking for new foster homes, other types of volunteers, animal sponsors (like Ciara in Wicked Game), and donations of all kinds.

And if you apply, tell 'em Jeri sent you!

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Now playing: Led Zeppelin - Black Dog
via FoxyTunes